Key moments from Jim Comey's Senate testimony
The FBI director says the idea that the agency affected the election makes him 'mildly nauseous.' But he stands by his decision.
By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL 05/03/17 10:38 AM EDT Updated 05/03/17 11:12 AM EDT
Here are the key moments from the hearing:
Comey opened up about why he sent his Oct. 28 letter. It came down to “speak” or “conceal,” Comey said. “Speak,” he reasoned, “would be really bad. There’s an election in 11 days. Lordy, that would be really bad. Concealing in my view would be catastrophic, not just to the FBI but well beyond. And, honestly, as between really bad and catastrophic, I said to my team: ‘We’ve got to walk into the world of really bad. I’ve got to tell Congress that we’re restarting this, not in some frivolous way — in a hugely significant way.”
Sending that letter to Congress was “one of the world’s most painful experiences,” the FBI director said. “It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election, but honestly, it wouldn’t change the decision,” he said. “Even in hindsight — and this has been one of the world’s most painful experiences — I would make the same decision. I would not conceal that.”
“Never” has Comey leaked information, he said in response to pointed questioning from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), nor has he ever authorized anyone to leak information to the press regarding its investigation. Comey, however, wouldn’t say whether the agency is investigating leaks within the intelligence community. “I don’t want to answer that question for reasons I think you know,” he said.
“Where is all this speculation about collusion coming from?” Grassley asked the FBI chief in his opening statement. Comey announced before the House Intelligence Committee in March that the bureau was investigating possible collusion between Trump associates and Russian agents during the presidential campaign. But Grassley noted that James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence, said he had found no evidence of collusion before he left office and The New York Times reported that U.S. officials had no proof as well, so he challenged Comey to expound on what he dismissed as “speculation.” “For the good of the country,” Grassley said, “I hope that the FBI gets to the truth soon — whatever that may be.”
The FBI “was noticeably silent” about its investigation into the Trump campaign, charged ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who suggested that Comey cost Clinton the election with his Oct. 28 letter to Congress. “I join those who believe that the actions taken by the FBI did, in fact, have an impact on the election,” Feinstein said in her opening remarks. “What’s worse is that while all of this was going on in the public spotlight, while the FBI was discussing its investigation into Senator Clinton’s email server in detail, I cannot help but note that it was noticeably silent about the investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian interference into the election.”
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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/03/james-comey-senate-testimony-key-moments-237925
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